


The Devil In Amarillo

by Obsessedsleepygirl44



Category: His Dark Materials (TV), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Adultery, Alternate Universe - Western, Betrayal, Blood and Violence, Cattle Ranch, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Murder, Sexual Tension, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:08:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23828872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obsessedsleepygirl44/pseuds/Obsessedsleepygirl44
Summary: Twenty-one year old, Marisa Delamare has had a run of bad luck in securing a husband, but when Edward Coulter boards with her family, she latches her claws into him and becomes Mrs. Coulter over night. However, moving from Charleston, South Carolina to the desolate state of Texas to live on his cattle ranch becomes the least of her problems when his close friend, Asriel Belacqua, catches her eye.
Relationships: Edward Coulter/Marisa Coulter, Lord Asriel/Marisa Coulter
Comments: 18
Kudos: 41





	1. The Hook

**Author's Note:**

> I know. I know. I already have The Question of Control going, but don’t worry. I’m out for the summer and bored out of my mind and when an idea like this strikes, you have to jump on it or go crazy lol.

The scent of freshly baked bread wafted through the sitting room, stirring a small rumble in her belly as she flipped the page of her music book and lifted her gaze to the window where a light breeze was teasing the sheer curtains.

The paved street beyond their front porch was busy with afternoon traffic and bustle, distracting her from the chorus she was attempting to perfect, but failing like a novice on her upteenth attempt.

“Help set the table, Marisa,” Diana called, rushing by the sitting room. “Mr. Belacqua will be here shortly and Bessy is moving about as slow as your grandmother.”

Cheeks tightening, she closed the lid of the piano and pushed herself up in a rush, knowing any dwaddling would only infuriate her mother more than usual.

The dining room was overwhelmed with the aromas of the meal being prepared in the kitchen beyond with only the barest of scents mingling in from the flowers scattered around every corner of the room.

Delicately lifting a few pieces of china, she set the plates and utensils around the table, careful not to chip any lest her mother wring her neck like the chicken currently being lifted from the skillets, not that her mother had ever wrung a chicken in her pampered life, but there was a first time for everything.

“Now, your brother will be gathering Mr. Belacqua from the station and bringing him straight here for dinner after they finish with those mares at the stables,” her mother informed, smoothing a hand over the ivory table cloth.

“And this man is worth all this fuss, why?” she asked, tossing a few loose curls over her shoulder. “He’s just another rancher.”

“He’s not _just_ another rancher, darling,” her mother scolded. “He’s one of the wealthiest men in Texas and he’s in South Carolina on business for only a day.”

“We don’t usually board men,” she noted, observing her mother’s harried mannerisms. “Why now?”

“As I said, he’s quite wealthy and, if you must know, unmarried and uninformed of the mess you made with that Henderson boy.”

A groan built at the back of her throat.

“Mother, I have no interest in moving to the most desolate state across the Mississippi River. There’s nothing in Texas but shit and dust.”

“Marisa, you’re twenty-one years old,” her mother spat, gray eyes narrowing in on her. “You should have already been wed some time ago. Gifts like this will be few and far in between with your reputation.”

“I had that situation perfectly handled until you butted in,” she growled, fingers gripping the back of the dining chair.

“The only thing that was handled was his taking the only thing of value you had before you secured that ring on your finger.” Diana stood straighter. “Now, you will smile and tease this man straight into a marriage, do you understand? This could be highly profitable for our family and I’ll not have you ruining it with your lack of self-restraint.”

Biting her cheek to keep from screaming, she spun on her heel and fled up the staircase to her room where she slammed the door, hoping her mother felt the rattle in her bones.

As she plopped down onto her bed, she caught her reflection in the vanity mirror and sighed as she lifted a finger to curl a loose strand of dark hair over her ear. Meeting her own gaze, she stared into the blue of her irises and took a few steadying breaths before the blush on her pale cheeks reddened her entire face.

Why her mother had to bring up her past mistakes infuriated her. Sure, she’d miscalculated and made a massive mistake, but it was done and there was no going back.

But four years later and her mother still acted as if it happened yesterday. To be fair, a pregnancy out of wedlock had spread like wildfire, but it wasn’t as if there was a child attached to her. Blessedly, the parasite had perished long before coming due and it’s father long gone and married to a more... clean wife.

However, the stench of it still followed her like week old sour milk, drawing every upturned nose in town toward her direction. Even a three year stay with her aunt two towns north hadn’t lessened the sting of the eyes that followed her, but she bore it all as if they weren’t looking at all.

  
The thought of escaping all the drama circled her mind. For a while now, she’d accepted her life would remain here, in Charleston. Her prospects were slim, but not altogether out of the question. She consoled herself by staying positive in the fact that she was still young yet, and it didn’t hurt being beautiful and educated. All it would really take is the right man to come along with just the right weaknesses and she’d been holding out hope for a desirable one to present himself.  
  


The only problem with the one appearing tonight was from whence he hailed. It didn’t particularly matter to her if he was attractive. She’d do her wifely duty nonetheless, but the heat and humidity of the shit stained state of Texas with all its outlaws and cattle didn’t strike her fancy all that much.

  
“Marisa, they’re here.”

Sucking in one last steadying breath, she stepped up to her vanity and squirted a bit of the perfume her brother had gifted her last Christmas, dabbing it to her wrists and neck before starting for the door.

Halfway down the staircase, she caught sight of the man she presumed was the one to whom her mother intended her. His blonde hair was neatly cut and the tan shirt he wore was buttoned clear to the collar as he fidgeted with his hat, garnering a soft sigh from her.

If his shirt was that tightly buttoned, no doubt the rest of him was, too.

When his green eyes made their way to finally meet hers, she admitted to herself he was attractive enough. It wouldn’t be difficult at all to spend a life looking at him, she supposed, and just from the few moments she’d taken to observe him, she imagined it wouldn’t be all that difficult to lead him how she wished, either.

“Ah, Mr. Coulter, this is my daughter, Marisa,” Diana introduced, gesturing for her to complete her journey down the stairs, her eyes giving a last, solid warning.

“Mr. Coulter?” she wondered aloud, a sweet smile on her lips.

The man bowed his head and gave a quick little chuckle. “Yes, Edward Coulter. I’m afraid Asriel has sent me in his sted to mind the business of the mares he wished to purchase.”

“Mr. Coulter and Mr. Belacqua are both ranchers. They work together,” her mother offered and laughed. “From what I hear, they’re the best in all of Texas.”

Note taken. Mr. Coulter was an equal to Mr. Belacqua and she found herself congratulating herself on an easier name with which to live should the evening work in her favor.

“Ah, well, how lucky for us,” she practically sang with a practiced softness to appear as though her breath had been taken by him.

“No, ma’am,” he responded, voice some odd mix between high and deep as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I believe the luck is all mine.”

Dinner was a mundane affair of complementing what needed to be complemented and touching his arms and hand when that was called for as well. Her brother, Marcel, dominated the conversation as usual, wanting to appear more sophisticated than everyone present, which he admittedly was on most occasions, their mother’s rigorous education practically laced in their veins.

To her surprise, Edward was a more confidently spoken man than she’d originally anticipated as it seemed it only took giving him a subject on which to speak to draw him out of that stiffly buttoned persona.

Apparently, he owned a cattle ranch in Amarillo, Texas; one he’d inherited from his father and continued to build. He made it sound much more inviting than she imagined it actually was, but found herself occasionally hanging on to his adventurous stories.

“Honestly, Edward, I hadn’t ever thought of Texas having much to offer, but I believe you’re selling me on it quite quickly,” she praised, smoothing a hand along his upper arm as she leaned close with a giggle.

“Oh, it’s beautiful in the spring time,” he added, turning and placing a hand on the back of her chair as he leaned in close to her. “The Texas Bluebonnets are in full bloom and the new life all around is just... breathtaking.”

As the latter of his words fell from his lips, so did his eyes from hers, their deep green concentrated entirely on her mouth, which she permitted to spread into a shy smile as she parted them ever so slightly and allowed an unsteady breath to slip free.

By the time her mother had ushered them out of the dining room, Edward was completely under her thumb, his eyes barely leaving her for more than a few moments at a time and to her amusement only dropping past her lips to her cleavage on the average of once every few minutes. It was around that time that she decided Texas was going to be her new home and she’d adjust to it as she did everything else.

“I wish you weren’t returning home so soon,” she bemoaned, fluttering her eyes as she laid a hand over his. “I should like to have kept your company for a while longer. We receive so few visitors of your kind.”

Edward turned to her and laid a hand to the back of the porch swing. “I’m afraid I must. Asriel will have my head if I delay longer,” he admitted. “He’s rather insistent on these mares being delivered.”

“Well, this Asriel has no well wishes from me,” she quipped.

“I’m sure he’d be heartbroken,” Edward drawled slow. “He likes to think himself the center of the world.”

“Ah,” she mused, a knowing smile lifting the corner of her mouth. “One of those. Admittedly, such men are usually the ugliest within while thinking themselves the loveliest outwardly.”

Edward’s eyes lit at her condemnation. “I must say Miss Delamare, you speak your mind rather easily.”

A dramatic sigh slipped from her nose as she slouched a bit. “My mother would be mortified. She’s always scolding me about my mouth running away and telling me no one wishes to hear every thought in my head.” She tilted said head and beseeched him with a mournful gaze. “I do hope I haven’t offended you.”

Edward quickly shook his head. “Oh, no, I find your honesty rather refreshing.”

“Hmm,” she mused, observing the way his eyes followed her mouth. “Well, you’re a rare man, indeed, then. Most would prefer I be seen and not heard.”

“Hardly,” he said, his mock modesty quite good, but not entirely missed. “There’s another like me every few dozen miles in Texas.”

“Well, as it hear it, Amarillo, Texas isn’t quite as densely populated as Charleston,” she laughed. “I do wish it was the same here. It can be suffocating to be on constant display.”

“Yes,” he agreed, nodding along with her. “I miss the miles and miles of undisturbed land.”

“Sounds refreshing,” she admitted, noting his far off look. “And freeing. I try to imagine it; the sights and smells.”

Edward laughed, his head lulling and falling back as though she’d said something overtly amusing. “Well, the smell isn’t always best, but I know nothing more beautiful.” He glanced at her with a grin. “Present company excluded.”

“You mock,” she teased, feigning offense as she lightly slapped his arm.

“Not at all.I must admit, the more you speak, I find myself astounded you’ve not married.” After a beat, he paled a bit and stuttered, “Forgive me, I don’t mean to-“

“Please, Edward,” she softly cut in, laying a hand to his. “You needn’t apologize. It’s a perfectly reasonable thought. Most young ladies my age have long ago married. To be honest,” she went on, diverting her gaze to her hands in mock shame. “I was engaged once.”

“Was?”

“I’m afraid I was a foolish girl and fell for the charms of a handsome face and ruined myself.“ She suddenly lifted her gaze to the window, playing at being worried. “My mother would thrash me if she knew I’d admitted such a thing.” She gave him a small, secretive smile. “I think she has ideas about you and it wouldn’t do for me to give her another reason to despise me.”

Edwards eyes widened a bit as he suddenly seemed to not know what to do with his hands. “Me? She thinks you and I...?”

“Of course,” she laughed lightly. “Any man who crosses our threshold suddenly becomes a suitor, though with my sullied name, such opportunities are practically nonexistent these days.”

“How could you possibly be unpursued?”  
  
  
His amazement was as clear as the Charleston beaches.

“You don’t know?” she asked, feigning surprise. “I thought the entire state knew of my ruin.”

“Whatever it is couldn’t be all that bad,” he prodded with such a kind smile that she nearly felt a hint of regret at her manipulation... but only nearly.

“I- well, I have no dowry to speak of as my father gambled our only profit away before drowning himself in liquor and ending up on the wrong side of a gun,” she admitted, gaze on her hands again. “And the man I was engaged to, he- well, as I said, I was foolish. I believed his lies about love and a future. I suppose I should have known better. He was from such a good family and...” She lightly laughed and gestured to their modest home. “This is me; the only thing of worth in my possession being my face and my virtue.”

A dozen heartbeats passed before she timidly met his eyes.

“He did his part and I fell with child... everyone knew. He tossed me away once it came to light and....” She shook her head as a few tears appeared around her lashes at which she quickly wiped. “I didn’t carry for long before the baby... but the damage was done and now I’ll likely pass from this life alone because of one moment of foolish weakness where I dared believe someone actually loved me.”

It was a gamble, admitting such truths, but if she was truly to hook this man, it would take a bold move as she didn’t have the time to slowly and softly seduce him. And, at this point, she fully intended to have him eating out of her hand for the rest of his life, an easy feat considering his cock was already hers regardless of if she’d touched him or not and she was presently piercing his heart with her gaze and words, the pitiful thing practically bleeding through her fingers as they closed around it, nails digging into the soft tissues like a hook in an unsuspecting fish.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, taking her hand, the pads of his fingers gently stroking her knuckles.

She shook her head and swiped at her cheeks again. “Here I am being foolish again. It’s just so rare that anyone speaks confidentially with me now. Everyone’s afraid my stain will attach to them like a leech to a wound.”

“No, of course, you aren’t foolish,” he vehemently protested. “They’re the fools for being so small minded.”

She took a moment to stare at him, drawing him further into her web before she whispered, “Now, I find myself perplexed at how you’re the one unmarried. Surely, any red blooded woman with a beating heart in Texas and beyond would have attempted to snatch you up.”

Edward laughed and shook his head, that feigned modesty he’d been playing at all night coming about again. “I’m afraid I go rather unnoticed in Asriel’s company. They’re all holding out hope to be the next Mrs. Belacqua. I imagine when he finally settles, they’ll suddenly realize I exist.”

The slight disdain in his tone was something she filed away to be used at a later time. This Asriel fellow, friend of Edward’s or not, was clearly a competitor in Edward’s eyes and it was becoming increasingly obvious that Edward wasn’t the alpha of the two.

  
“Small minds, indeed.” She smiled softly and lifted a hand to gently stroke his clean shaven jaw. “It seems we’re both suffocated by our respective lives; the people around us making us feel less magnificent than we are. I suppose you and I are a bit like kindred spirits.”

When he only stared at her, his hand coming up to cover hers like she’d spoken some profound wisdom when all she was really doing was feeding into his delusion, she sighed as though coming to herself and withdrew her hand to smooth out her skirts. “I should let you rest, Edward. You’ll have a long journey tomorrow. I wouldn’t want it to be on my account that you were weary as you embark upon it.” She smiled as she stood and began to back away, steps retreating even as they drew him further in. “You might finally think poorly of me.”

“Miss Delamare,” he called, quickly standing and reaching for her hands. “I could never think poorly of you. You’re the most enchanting woman I’ve ever encountered.”

“I’d be flattered if Texas were as populated with women as Charleston,” she teased.

“I-“ He stuttered and fumbled with her hands as he clasped them, enveloping her delicate, smooth ones between his larger calloused ones. “I should like to perhaps be the one to make a fool of myself now.”

Victory would feel more sweet, if not for the fact that the outcome of living in Texas would be so sour. At least, the consolation would come with finally being a good number of states away from her overbearing mother.

His proposal was a rush of generous promises and, just like that, she was bound for a shit infested cattle ranch in Texas, her life forever changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got really excited and published quickly. I’ll likely go back and edit this first chapter a bit lol.
> 
> Expect quick updates for a while because the idea is solid in my head and buckle up because this is going to be a long story.


	2. Mrs. Edward Coulter

The slow change in scenery was intriguing as it moved from mossy and green to dry and tan, the temperature easing from comfortably warm to insufferably humid, each station stealing the breath from her lungs little by little.

“It’s breathtaking, isn’t it?” he mused, hand at her back as he guided her off the stagecoach.

“Quite literally,” she murmured, adjusting her wide brimmed hat and parasol, surveying the various buildings around the station, each less impressive than the last.

A tall white church sat at the end of town, just past the blacksmiths, leaving her to wonder if Edward was a religious man. A thought tickled her mind, reminding her of all the Sunday services she’d been forced to endure as a girl, her father’s hand encompassing hers as he led her up the steps after depositing his flask in his breast pocket.

“Coulter,” a tall, dark haired man called, waltzing up with extended hand. “That was a quick trip.”

Edward laughed and accepted the hand. It was then that she saw the badge on the man’s vest.

“Marisa, this is Sheriff Lee Scoresby,” Edward introduced, hand on her back again. “Sheriff, this is Marisa, my new bride.”

It was nearly comical, the way the man’s brown eyes bulged as they swiveled between them, mouth falling open as he fought the battle for words.

“Wife?” he repeated, finally coming to himself as he removed his hat and ran a hand over his glistening brow. “Damn, Coulter. Asriel sent you for mares, but I don’t think this is what he meant.”

Being compared to a horse sent an involuntary spasm across her spine as Edward chuckled. “Making a profit is what Asriel sent me to do and I’d dare say I did just that.”

“Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but as Sheriff, I’ll give it a whirl.” He placed his hat to his chest and bowed his head, right hand held out. “Welcome to Amarillo, Mrs. Coulter.”

* * *

Exhaustion clung to her shoulders as the coach seemed to hit every bump on the road to Edward’s ranch. They’d thankfully not lingered long in town, but as they ventured further out across the semi grassy prairie, she found herself wondering if he lived at Hell’s gate. The landscape was wide and vast with clear blue sky overhead beating down on the red land beneath it. The dryness of the cracked earth lent itself to creating a small dust storm as the horse and coach disturbed it.

“How are you?” Edward took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I know this heat can be unbearable at times to someone not accustomed to it.”

“Oh, it’s-“ She floundered for words before settling on, “A bit difficult to breathe.”

He chucked and nodded toward the window. “There she is.”

So it was.

The Coulter Ranch sat in the distance, the red shingled roof glinting like fire in the fading evening light. The white two story ranch house was nicer than the ones she’d seen so far with multiple windows on both floors and a long porch with rockers along the front. Barns sat off to the right and pens beyond that.

“Well, do you think you can manage the run of it?”

“With eyes closed and hands tied behind my back,” she teased, squeezing his thigh.

The way his eyes trailed across her mouth, down her neck, and over her chest, alluded to the fact that she’d not be kept waiting long for him once they were settled.

As they’d wed and departed within a few hours of each other, there’d been no time to properly consummate the marriage and they’d yet to be truly alone since.

Now, days later, she was sure the wait he’d managed to withhold throughout would come to an abrupt end. Polite as her new husband was, she was keenly aware of the ever present arousal he’d maintained throughout their journey.

Drawing the pads of her fingers under his chin, she lifted his gaze to hers and leaned in to kiss him, a soft brush of her lips over his.

“You’re impossibly soft,” he murmured, hand cupping her cheek.

“You’re not,” she laughed under her breath, hand sliding further up his thigh. “Far from it.”

As the coach pulled up to the house, Edward hopped out and held a hand for her, drawing her back under the eye of the scorching sun. After she’d drawn her parasol over her head to block the harsh light, she noticed the staff lining the front porch, an older woman and young boy as well as a few men on horse back leaning over their saddles.

Edward moved ahead to speak to them and nodded to the mares, which they went about gathering and leading off as she did her best to keep her face neutral as the inevitable smell of horse and shit burned her nostrils.

“Marisa, this is Susan Polstead and her grandson, Malcom. Susan has been with my family since I was a boy.”

The greetings went back and forth before Edward led her inside the house as their luggage was brought up the stairs.

It was richly furnished, more so than she’d have thought with a wide drawing room and a tall staircase that curved towards the upper floor. It was clearly a house designed to draw guests and impress, the first thing she’d seen that she believed she could work with and make her own.

“Do you like it?”

Meeting his watchful gaze, she nodded with a bright smile. “Yes, it’s lovely.”

“Susan,” he called. “Will you show Marisa to my room? Let her settle in.”

The woman nodded and started up the stairs.

“I’ll be back shortly,” he said, kissing her cheek. “I want to make sure those boys haven’t let us fall into ruin while I was gone.”

When he was out the front door, she sighed rather heavily and turned to the woman waiting at the top of the stairs.

“Right.”

The master bedroom was large enough with a king sized, four poster bed center of the far wall. A balcony sat off to the right where it would catch the morning light, overlooking the grazing pastures.

“I could have a bath drawn for you if you like, Mrs. Coulter. I imagine it’d be a relief after your long journey.”

Gaze shifting to Susan, she smiled and nodded her thanks, finally allowing her eyes to dance over the older woman, likely closer to sixty than fifty, her graying hair piled atop her head.  


  
When the woman was gone, she sank to the bed and unpinned her hat before dropping it to the blankets and leaning back on her hands to stare out the open window.

What felt like a sheen of dust and sweat clung to her skin in layers as the heat in the house was only slightly less pressing than the one outside.

“Wonderful,” she groaned, falling to her back and resting a hand over her eyes in the hopes that if she remove it, this will all have been a horrible dream. “What have I done?”

By the time she’d had her bath and redressed, light had given way to dark.

“There you are, darling,” Edward called as she entered the dining room. “Refreshed?”

“Much,” she replied, smile coming to her lips. “I feel like I washed half of Texas off my body.”

He chuckled and pulled a chair out for her. “Summer isn’t as bad as winter, I assure you. You’ll be grateful for the dust and heat to return.”

Wonderful.

“Well,” she concluded as Malcom placed their plates on the table. “No one seems too upset you’ve brought an extra mare home.”

Edward’s smile faded, but just so. “Manners tend to occasionally fall to the wayside out here, but they mean nothing by it.”

“Hmm.” The steak on her plate ran slightly on the red side, making her stomach churn. “I suppose I’ll learn the ins and outs soon enough.”

“I have complete faith you will,” he agreed, cutting into his dinner. “My younger sister lives in town with our aunt and uncle. I regret not visiting when we were there, but they’d have never let us leave.”

“Yes, you mentioned her,” she said, choosing to eat the vegetables over the meat. “Elizabeth, I believe you said?”

“That’s the one.” He shrugged his shoulders and cut another piece of steak. “She’ll be over the moon to meet you.”

Straightening her back, she looked to him and plastered yet another smile to her face. “And I her.”

He shook his head. “Perhaps, another woman will convince her to halt her fixation with Asriel and marry the various other suitors pursuing her. She’s been trying to catch his eye since she was a girl, but he’s got his eye on every girl but her.”

“The more you speak of him, the more he sounds like a positively wretched person.”

Edward chuckled and brought a napkin to his mouth. “You’ll understand when you meet him. What he lacks in his association with people, he makes up for with animals. Even I can’t deny he brings a profit to the ranch.”

To be fair, she was more intrigued by the man than she cared to let show. She wanted to know what all the fuss was about when it came to Asriel Belacqua. Edward had mentioned him so many times that she’d found herself painting pictures of him in her mind.

At times, he was hideous, nearly an animal himself, Edward’s description of his personality swaying her to believe he had scars on his face and long, greasy hair which fell below his shoulders.

Then, she would laugh to herself when she realized that couldn’t be true. Edward wouldn’t be half as jealous if the man wasn’t handsome. However, wealth had a way of making men look all the more attractive. So, nothing could really be discounted when conjuring images of him.

“It’s quiet,” she whispered, eyes out the bedroom window as he set his pocket watch on the dresser and joined her on the balcony. “Charleston was never this quiet.”

“It does allow one the opportunity to dwell on what’s important,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her from behind, his mouth ghosting along the column of her neck.

The gentle way he touched her, fingers caressing her belly and hips as he continued at her neck and along her jaw had her eyes fluttering, the clearness of the stars becoming slightly more blurry.

“Do you know how beautiful you are?”

A soft laugh slipped from her as she turned in his arms and laid her hands to his chest. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Green eyes danced over her as his fingers began on the strings along her dress, his fingers brushing her skin, drawing a cascade of tingles along her spine.

Edward was much more handsome than Johnny had been, shoulders broad, face clean shaven and more pointed than round. He kissed differently, too, with more confidence and less tongue being forced into her mouth.

When her back hit the bed with him breathing heavily over her, bare and exposed, she laid a hand to his chest before he could begin again.

“I’d like to wait a while,” she abruptly said, chest heaving as her body began to ache. “If you don’t mind, of course.”

“Wait?” he asked, confusion flickering over his face.

“Children,” she clarified, fingers dancing along his throat and shoulders. “It’s not something we’ve discussed and I-“ She feigned embarrassment and shyly flickered her eyes from his. “Well, I’d like to spend some time with it just the two of us.”

“That’s-“ He chuckled and adjusted his weight, hands splayed on either side of her. “That’s fine, I suppose.”

Relief coursed through her.

Motherhood was not something at which she thought she’d be particularly good. The idea of devoting all her time and energy into another being with no benefit to herself... it brought a suffocating wave of nausea to her. Children were inevitable, but she’d delay the burden as long as she could.

“I can spend all my time doting on you,” she whispered, fingers finding him beneath his pants, teasing the hard flesh as she lifted her other hand to draw his face closer to her own.

“I like that idea,” he murmured, already drowning in her flesh, his hands and mouth on the move again.

Johnny had been an eager lover, all rush and no patience. Of course, over the years, she’d had her pleasures through various encounters, fingers excitedly giving it here and there, but she’d kept their cocks out of her, not wanting another accident before she became a Mrs and would in turn relieve them with a generous hand. The thin line between being a tease and a whore had been one she’d patted herself on the back as balancing quite gracefully... at least, until Johnny.

Edward was an altogether different matter. He was gentle and soft and slow. Honestly, the time he took, hand between her thighs with his warm, wet mouth latched around a nipple had her teetering at release fairly quickly.

Clearly, despite his moaning about Asriel’s dalliances, he’d had a few of his own because he seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Texas might have been entirely in the con category of marrying Edward, but upon her first release crashing over her, she decided having an attentive lover overrode a few of them.

“Are you alright?” he murmured at her ear, moist breath drawing another shiver down her spine as he shifted between her thighs, the heaviness between his own resting at the ready against her center.

Fingers grasping at his shoulders, she tilted her head to catch his eyes and gave an encouraging smile. “Eager.”

His chuckle was punctuated with another kiss as he reached between them, the head of himself rubbing through her slick for a few passes before a slight give drew him in.

“Marisa,” he groaned, inching further into her as every heartbeat seemed to draw more blood to her ears, pounding away like a drum to the beat of his making.

Mild discomfort accompanied his full seating within her, but nothing she couldn’t manage as she hooked a leg over his hip to urge him on since he’d apparently decided she was too wonderful a home for him for retreat.

“Are you alright?” she managed, brushing a few fingers along his cheek.

Lifting onto his elbows, he gave a quick shake of his head, face splotched red. “You’re- You feel so-“

“Shh,” she soothed, tilting her head forward to brush her lips to his. “It’s only the beginning.”

It didn’t take long for his seed to spill across her belly, his face screwed up in pleasure as he pulled from her and allowed her fingers to wrap around him to finish him off.

He came with her name on his lips, sweat beaded along his brow, and as she stared up at him, lost in his pleasure, she imagined how easy it would be to control him. With his eyes closed, head falling to her shoulder all weak and spent, a devious smile lifted the corners of her mouth as she stroked a hand up and down his neck, cradling him to her breast like she would a small child.

Mrs. Edward Coulter. The name had power. She would use it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ruth Wilson is the gift that keeps giving. I recently watched Saving Mr. Banks and The Lone Ranger again, which were the inspirations for this fic. She is amazing!
> 
> Asriel arrives in the next chapter.


	3. The Wolf and His Mutt

It was a tickling sensation that woke her, something wet and warm at her check. Drowsiness pushed her to ignore it as the burning behind her eyelids begged her to remain asleep.

“It’s early,” she murmured, brushing it away with the back of her hand.

However, when her hand met something squishy and wet, she bolted upright with a yelp, eyes as wide as saucers in search of the foreign thing she hadn’t expected.

What she found sent her heart to racing.

A huge silver and brown wolf had its front paws planted on the edge of the bed, golden eyes fixed on her as she scooted across the mattress until she fell off the other side with a thud.

Momentarily stunned, she backed against the floor, the sound of claws scratching the floor as it moved preventing sound from leaving her mouth as she attempted to call for help. However, when the wolf reached the foot of the bed, rather than pounce at her, it proceeded to leave the room as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

After a moment of gathering herself, she wiped her hair from her face and used the bed as leverage to pull herself up, her eyes never leaving the doorway.

“I hate Texas,” she murmured, hurrying to close the door lest the beast return.

By the time she’d quickly thrown on a simple dress and cautiously descended the stairs, she’d heard nothing to suggest any one else had encountered the creature. In fact, upon searching the house, she’d found no one at all even in the building, but had spotted Edward talking to the ranch hands outside the barn.

For a moment, she wondered if she’d seen anything at all, or if she’d still been asleep and brought the dream with her into waking. Perhaps, the Texas heat had caused her to hallucinate, or maybe she was just losing her mind altogether.

At any rate, she sighed and brought a hand through her loose and tangled hair, convincing herself the best thing to do was go fix herself for the day rather than chase spirits or whatever it was around the house.

“Who are you?”

The deep, gravelly voice brought a startled yelp from her as she spun and bumped into a side table, sure the wolf had leapt out to finish what it’d started.

What she was met with, however, was not a wolf, but a dark haired man a few feet away, his jaw hard set as he glared at her through the most brilliantly shaded blue eyes she’d ever seen.

“I-“

The words stuck in her throat again when the golden eyed wolf brushed past his leg and sniffed at the front of her dress. The man, however, took no notice of the wolf, his eyes never leaving her as a slow smirk came to the corners of his mouth.

“Stel doesn’t take kindly to strangers,” he offered, taking another step toward her, his overwhelming presence practically stifling the air in the room as he came within a few breaths of her. “I’ll ask again. Who are you?”

“Marisa,” she finally managed, conjuring enough courage to meet the danger in his eyes, her own gaze hardening as she straightened her back in an effort to be in some control of the situation. “I’m Edward’s _wife.”_

The startled look passed to him as he tilted his head as if to gauge her sincerity, gaze sweeping her up and down like a wolf would it’s prey. When the hardened look momentarily slipped out of place, it dawned on her exactly who this was.

The man was far too handsome and arrogant to be anyone else than the one Edward jabbered endlessly on and on about.

“You’re Asriel Belacqua,” she concluded, standing to her full height as she did her best to ignore the wolf still nuzzling at her hem. “Can you call off your mutt?”

“Eddie doesn’t have a wife,” he quipped, ignoring her request as a grin more similar to a snarl than a smile tugged at his mouth. “And even if he did, it wouldn’t be you.”

“Excuse me?” The offense coursed through her as she gripped the shelf at her hip, backing as far into it as she could to gain some breathing room from the man who didn’t seem to mind invading her personal space. “I am his wife. We wed in Charleston the day he departed.”

“Bullshit,” he spat, pure amusement now glittering in his eyes as he snapped his fingers at the wolf, who retreated to his side. “Eddie doesn’t have the balls to go out and randomly pick up a woman, especially not one who looks as you do.”

It was becoming increasingly clear why Edward had such a problem with Asriel. The raw arrogance practically dripped off the man and there was something more, some quality she couldn’t quite put a word to that had her wanting to lean closer to him rather than further away. She’d chalk it up to the heat and the fact that his eyes looked like two tiny beaches in which she could drown.

“I assure you,” she managed to whisper, voice all cracked and pathetic. “It’s the truth.”

_“You’re_ his wife?” The amusement only heightened as he took that final step to be irrevocably too close to be appropriate, the front of his practically see through white shirt brushing her dress. _“You?”_

“I’m not sure if I should be offended more by your ridicule of my looks or the inappropriateness you’re displaying with your friend’s new bride.”

The smirk on his lips was unbearable now as his eyes fell to her heaving chest, which may as well have been bare and not covered by two layers of material for the way he was staring.

“You don’t seem to mind.”

With a scoff, she planted her hands center of his chest and shoved him back with the intent to slap him if not for the growl of the wolf suddenly between them, the golden eyes bringing her up short as she resumed clutching the shelf in an attempt to scurry away from its bared fangs.

“Eddie!” he suddenly called, causing her to jump as he began moving toward the front porch, his boots slapping the floor boards with intent. “Eddie, get in here!”

If not for the faint smell of coffee, she might have thought she was still dreaming. It would be the only possible explanation for why she was being accosted this early in the morning by some unrealistically handsome brute and his pet wolf.

While he lingered in the doorway, she finally took a moment to allow her eyes to trace him over, taking in the loose fitted work shirt and pants that clung to his lean frame as well as the pistol that hung off his hip. Guns had a way of terrifying her and she imagined it had something to do with watching her father’s brains get blown out right in front of her when she was fifteen years old.

When Asriel turned back to her with that hard look again, the grin still lingered at the corner of his mouth and she found herself gripping the shelf to maintain control of herself.

“What’s your name?”

Unable to stifle an eye roll, the spell he’d cast broke and she huffed, “I told you-“

“No, your surname,” he snapped in frustration, waving her off as though she were bereft of any brains.

“Delamare.” Fingers digging into her palms, she used all of her willpower to keep a pleasant face. “Marisa Delamare.”

To anyone this far from Charleston, the name should have been new. It wasn’t common and, as far as she knew, only belonged to her immediate family. However, when his whole body abruptly whipped toward her and he stalked back in her direction, she realized it would be an error to assume that as he grabbed her arm and pressed her solidly into the shelf, the wood catching painfully at her lower back.

“As in Marcel Delamare?”

The fact that he knew Marcel’s name sent an involuntary shiver down her spine. Throughout Charleston, her brother had a reputation for being a swindler and a fraud, another strike which had stood against her as a potential wife.

“Yes,” she answered, titling her head back so he wasn’t quite so in her face. “He’s my brother.”

“That fucking idiot,” he breathed, the words washing over her face with the smell of tobacco as he drew two fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose.

But all the tilting away in the world wouldn’t prevent the arousal that spread out from her core, scorching every nerve along its path. He may as well have stripped her down and slipped a hand between her slick thighs for how hard her nipples were straining against her dress.

Just as she was about to demand he release her before some embarrassing noise slipped from her mouth, Edward came rushing through the door in a swirl of dust and heaving breath.

“Asriel, what-“ Edward abruptly halted and glanced between them, confusion turning into a flash of anger, prompting her to jerk her arm loose and take a few side steps away from the man who seemed content to remain too close.

“You were supposed to go to Charleston to purchase a few mares, Eddie,” Asriel spat, thrusting a hand toward the door then toward her. “Not saddle yourself to the most manipulative bitch in the litter.”

Red splotches were surely coating her cheeks with how warm they were from the rage that was taking place of the arousal swirling just beneath the surface.

Edward, for his part, only sighed and ran a hand down his sweaty face as though he were now more annoyed than angry. “Asriel-“

“I warned you to purchase the mares and return home straight away.” Asriel glared back at her like he could see all the black marks on her soul. “You let Marcel slip her into our business.”

Brow knitting in confusion, she looked between them and observed the way Edward sighed as though he’d expected such an accusation to be flung at him. His reaction, or lack of reaction about her possibly duplicitous intentions for marrying him unnerved her.

“Yes, Asriel,” Edward groaned, tossing his hat on the table. “I’m not a complete fool.”

“Her family has a reputation-“

“In Charleston,” Edward interrupted, gaining a little more volume, though not enough for her liking when the man was basically degrading her entire family. “Not Amarillo.”

“Eddie, you’re a fucking idiot.” Asriel’s wolf gave a low growl as it circled his legs. “You’ve been suckered by a beautiful face who’s probably had more cocks in her hand than you’ve ever had sense.”

Having heard enough, she turned on her heel and stormed through the kitchen door, slamming it open hard enough to startle Susan, who dropped the basin of water in her hand.

“Oh, my,” Susan yelped, quickly snatching a towel from the table and kneeling to the floor to begin dabbing at the mess. “Mrs. Coulter, are you alright?”

Ignoring the woman’s concern, she continued through the kitchen and out the screen door only to be met with the morning heat attacking her like a swarm of gnats.

At least, with the early hours, it wasn’t quite as sweltering as afternoon had been the previous day, but the temperature combined with the rage coursing through her body had her on the verge of passing out.

Her fury continued to well from that normally tightly controlled place within her as she stomped down the steps, scratching at her insides as it attempted to claw its way out of her.

But there was nowhere to hide it as she whipped around in every direction only to be met with miles and miles of open prairie. There weren’t even enough trees to say any existed in this God forsaken place.

Finally admitting defeat at being stuck here, she leaned against the stone wall of the well in the back yard and dropped her face into her hands.

The rebuke and judging had been expected in Charleston. She’d accepted it and wrapped her steely exterior and thin smile like a shell around herself, allowing all the petty comments and dirty looks to roll right off her back. 

But not here.

Amarillo had been her fresh start, where no one knew her and she could recreate herself, make herself into whatever she wanted to be.

Now, that was all ruined because one arrogant man thought he knew her.

To be honest, it wasn’t even Asriel with whom she was mostly furious. It was her spineless husband, who she’d known was inferior from the way he’d spoken of Asriel, but never could have guessed to this extent.

Such weakness in a man infuriated her, especially in one whom now had authority over her entire life.

Then, there was the accusation that she’d deliberately orchestrated something with her brother. Sure, she’d decided to manipulate Edward into marriage, but that was to escape her family, not help them.

They’d been a burden her entire life. From her father’s gambling to her brother’s crooked schemes to her mother’s blatant hatred of her. It had been never ending and she blamed her mistake with Johnny Henderson entirely on them. She’d been so desperate to get away from them that she’d become the same sort of reckless and shortsighted that each of them were.

Suddenly very thirsty and wishing to wash the bitter taste from her mouth, she turned and began winding the handle for the water, allowing the bucket to fall, but when she tried to pull it back up, it caught and no matter what she did, she couldn’t figure out how to get the blasted thing to unjam.

Anger quickly washed through her at the impertinence of even the well. With a curse, she gave a quick kick to the stone wall. “You fucking, shit infested-“

“And here I thought your were playing at being a lady.” The deep, gravelly voice startled her enough to let out another yelp as she spun and was met with the brute now mounted atop his horse. “I’m sure even Charleston would have frowned at such nastiness coming from a supposed lady’s mouth.”

Back snapping straight, she squared her shoulders and brushed the hair from her face. “You don’t know anything about me and everything you think you know is absolutely in error.”

“Is it?” He chuckled and leaned forward to prop his crossed arms across his saddle horn, an arrogant smirk forming on his lips. “Because I’ve gambled with Johnny Henderson once or twice when visiting Charleston. He had much to say about you. Your reputation precedes you.”

Grinding her teeth to keep from showing how startled she was at that, she spat, “So, rather than consider there might be two sides to a story, you just assume the true one came from the one told by the man you met at a gambling table? And here I’ve heard you think yourself a clever man.”

“Oh, I am clever, Mrs. Coulter,” he taunted as the wolf circled to her left, the predatorial, golden eyes drawing an involuntary shake of her head as she took a step back. “Though, I imagine you’re only just now figuring out Eddie is, too.” He sat back in his saddle with a satisfied grin. “He’s usually more level headed than to make a rash decision like this, but, knowing him, he knew exactly what he was doing... and what you were doing.” His eyes swept her up and down, a gaze she was growing accustomed to, but one from which she didn’t find herself shying. “I suppose I can hardly blame him.”

The look, suggestive and vulgar as it was, sent her heart galloping away as her face grew warmer than it had previously been. It wasn’t like he was the first man who’d ever looked at her like she was nothing more than a warm home for his cock, but it still managed to effect her to the point that she was blinking up at him with a pulsing chest. It was like he had some sort of magnet hidden away behind his eyes that locked her gaze to his and would permit no escape.

“You’re an uncultured asshole.” She turned her back on him to tug at the lever again, but more so to remove his eyes from her face lest he see his effect. “I’m here to _flee_ from my brother and mother not help them.” When she failed to draw the water again, she growled and spun back around. “Yes, I may have used my body and charms to get here, but Marcel played no part in that.”

“That you’re aware of,” he added, tilting his head to the right as he looked around her to the well, seemingly working out her problem.

Impatience snapped her last nerve as he continued to sit there all smug and dripping of sexual charisma like he was God’s fucking gift to women.

“Are you going to be a supposed gentlemen and help this supposed lady with this or not?”

A deep laugh fell from his mouth as he nudged his horse closer, so close she could reach out and touch its brown coat if she wished.

“Well, that’s just the thing,” he prodded the beast even closer, forcing her to stumble against the well and catch the halter of the horse to keep from falling backward into the deep hole. “You’re no lady and I’m no gentleman.”

“Clearly,” she spat, shoving the horse’s head away from her when she regained her balance, eyes searing him as surely as the sun on his back. “You are the most ill mannered brute I’ve ever met.”

“Now, now, love,” he tutted at her, wagging a finger in her direction like a parent scolding their small child. “There’s no need for name calling.”

“Fuck you,” she spat, glaring up at him like he was the shit on her boots.

But the curse only furthered his amusement as he kicked his boot out for what she thought was her teeth, prompting her to flinch as her eyes slammed shut.

Then, she heard the snap of the handle as the bucket splashed into the water.

“In Texas, we teach our children to swim by tossing them in the river. It’s the only way they learn; sink or swim.” He tugged the reins and whistled for the wolf. “It’ll be interesting to see which you do, Mrs. Coulter.”

As he gathered his reins, he gave her one last amused look. 

“As for your suggestion, we should let the tension build a little longer.” He winked at her, blue eyes glinting with mischief. “It’ll make our inevitable fuck even better.”

With that, he snapped his spurs and started for the road which led to a tree line about a mile in the distance, leaving her completely slack jawed and bereft of all the sense she prided herself on having.

After a few moments of glaring after him and the trail of dust he left in his wake, she let out a furious growl and began stomping back toward the house.

One conversation and she already hated him nearly as much as that useless scoundrel Johnny Henderson. Perhaps, she hated him more because at least with Johnny she’d been able to keep her wits and not succumb to anything she hadn’t planned. Then again, Johnny hadn’t looked anything like the wolf who’d just rode away after stripping her down to her most base of emotions.

The moment she set foot in the kitchen, Edward came through the swinging door. “Marisa, there you are.”

Not even bothering to force a smile to her face, she crossed her arms and leveled him with a stiff glare. It really was too soon for a spat. From what she knew about marriages, it generally didn’t happen this quickly, but she’d never been one to shy away from something out of the ordinary.

“Yes, I’m still here,” she quipped, noticing Susan glance between them uncomfortably before slipping past Edward out the door.

“You’re upset,” he sighed, giving a nod of his head as he turned to fill a mug with coffee, leaving her to stare at the tan shirt clinging to the sweat on his back.

“No, Edward, I enjoy being called a whore and practically mauled by some deviant while my husband stands by allowing it to happen.”

“You don’t understand, Asriel,” he went on, back still to her. “Arguing with him gets you nowhere.”

Properly infuriated, her nails bit deep into her palms. “I didn’t plot with my brother.”

“But you did plot.”

“Of course, I did,” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up like a child mid tantrum. “You were a smart prospect and I knew I’d likely not have a better choice. To be perfectly honest, my brother has ruined more prospects for me than an accidental pregnancy ever could.”

“It hardly matters, now. I knew I wanted you when I saw you, whatever your brother wants be damned.” Edward turned and leaned against the counter, steaming mug in his hand as he eyed her like he was dissecting her. “I’ll keep my promise to treat you well, Marisa; give you everything you want. All you have to do is remain loyal, especially when your little shit of a brother comes knocking.”

Heart pounding as though it had lodged itself between her ears, she swallowed against the dryness clinging to her throat.

“And if I don’t?”

Edward shrugged, setting his coffee down as he moved around the table toward her, his eyes so hard she was tempted to take a step back. It was a different kind of hardness than Asriel had exuded. Beneath the one man was a hint of mischief, a desire to ruffle feathers with a rough word and touch, but this... it was malicious; a quality she hadn’t thought Edward capable of possessing.

When his hands cupped her neck, he leaned close and softly said, “You will, Marisa, because you’re a survivor. You’ll do what’s best for _you.”_

A dangerous sensation wrapped around her, pressing in her gut, warning her she’d massively underestimated this man.

The dryness of her throat thickened, nearly choking her as she forced a thin smile. “Of course.”

What felt like one of the longest pauses of her life passed before he smiled, one bright and devoid of any of the hardness she’d seen moments before, like a match striking and suddenly filling a dark room with light.

Then, he kissed her, thumbs stroking her cheek as he held her in place and she found herself holding her breath for fear of him forcing more.

“Good,” he murmured, drawing back with that same pleasant smile. “Now, why don’t you continue to make yourself at home while I head back out.”

Only able to conjure a small nod, she waited until the kitchen door swung back into place to release the breath she’d been holding, hand coming to her belly as she laid the other to the table to steady herself and ferret out what had just occurred.

In the span of half an hour, she’d experienced the gauntlet of emotions and now found herself gone from finally free to being in essence a caged bird.

Chest still tight, she moved to the counter and cupped out a handful of water to quench the desert that was her mouth and throat before placing her hands flat against the hard surface as she attempted to even out her breathing.

“I really hate Texas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really love writing Asriel as some sexy jerk full of dirty humor. It’s gonna be a thing. And I couldn’t leave Stel out so... I did what I could.


	4. Gravity

The last few notes of the hymn began to slowly fade in the chapel, the many fans clasped in sweaty hands only stirring the heat rather than dissipating it.

As her eyes wandered around the stuffy room, she prayed the alter call was soon to be at its conclusion as there seemed to be no impending salvations today and she was the type who felt there was nothing more irritating than dragging something out that would only have the same ending.

At any rate, she sat stuffed between Edward and his sister, a rather obnoxiously pretty girl with long, blonde curls and eyes the same shade of green as Edward. From the moment she’d laid eyes on her, the girl’s snootiness had struck a nerve and she wondered if it was a natural inclination on her part or her brother’s obvious spoiling of her that had caused it.

Thankfully, the prayer ended quicker than she’d thought it would and Edward was looping his arm through hers as he led her down the aisle toward the front doors.

There’d been so many well wishers and touchy hands throughout the morning that she was surprised her smile hadn’t permanently stuck to her face. She just wanted to eat and be done with it as her stomach had began to give a few untimely pleas which had been hidden amongst the coughs and snorts of all the  _gentleman_ seated around her.

The noon sun was high and the heat particularly suffocating, not that it wasn’t always so, but the fact that she’d just spent two hours listening to a doom and gloom sermon about the need for revival was just the icing on the cake. It wasn’t as though Charleston never burned, but this was altogether different when mixed with the thickness in the air here.

As Edward continued to talk to people whose names she’d already forgotten, she found herself growing more and more intrigued by her husband. 

Meekness was his front, being humble his go to quality, when in reality it was like watching a constant performance with him at its center. It seemed as though he enjoyed the spotlight it gave him while not directly asking for it. He edged his way in with a kind gesture and flourished under the praise of being so humble and kind. It was a quality she’d have loved to flourish with had he not shown himself to be even more duplicitous than she. She never trusted anyone, especially someone she couldn’t read, and Edward had taken her for a spin without her ever being the wiser. That fact unnerved her more than anything else.

When it appeared he’d never cease talking, she wandered off a few yards to get some breathing room. However, it wasn’t a moment before Elizabeth took her by the arm and began leading her along the boardwalk. With the girl chattering on endlessly, she reminded herself to relax and not appear as miserable as she felt.

“I simply love your dress,” Elizabeth cooed, reaching out with her free hand and touching the cobalt blue material along her sleeve. “It’s nearly the shade of your eyes.”

“Thank you, Elizabeth.”

The girl went on, chattering on about the various gossip around town, hardly any of it interesting enough to hold her attention. Honestly, this had to be the most boring town in all the states from what she’d gathered when Elizabeth’s best gossip involved the low cut of a particular dress another girl had worn for church.

“Lizzie,” came a deep voice from behind them that caused Elizabeth to giggle as she turned, taking her with her as she kept her arm firmly looped through her own.

And there, stepping out of the General Store, was Asriel, his dark hair unruly and wind blown as he hooked a thumb in each of the suspenders at his chest, that hard, searching gaze fixed on her as he spoke to her sister in law.

“I imagine you’re pleased to have finally managed a sister.”

“Oh, Asriel,” Elizabeth exclaimed, voice hitting a ridiculous pitch while lifting up to kiss his cheek. “You’ve not visited me in over a week.”

“I’ve been busy,” was his dry reply, gaze still uncomfortably trained on her as though Elizabeth were some after thought, a fact upon which the empty headed girl was clearly not catching.

  
She supposed she should be grateful for the girl’s obliviousness. Anyone with a bit more observational skill would have noted the inappropriateness of his lingering stare.

“That’s hardly an excuse,” protested Elizabeth, dramatically pouting as she tugged at his rolled up sleeves. “You know how I adore your visits.”

Somehow managing not to roll her eyes, she adjusted her focus on the items in the store’s front display rather than his searing blue gaze, which was giving its all in an attempt to drown her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the wolf lingering behind Asriel, watching her as intently as he was.

“The ranch waits for no one, Lizzie, not even someone as pretty as you.”

“You always know just what to say, Asriel.” In the reflection of the window, she could see him still tracking her as Elizabeth fawned all over him, patting at his shirt and touching his face. “Have you met, Marisa?”

Before he could respond, she spun on her heel, snapping her parasol shut as a sly smile built on her lips. “Oh, we’ve met. He made _quite_ the impression.”

“Really?” Elizabeth glanced between them uncertainly. “Most people think our Asriel’s a bit rude up front.” She looped her arm through his, giggles returning as she patted his chest. “But he’s really a big ole softy on the inside.”

Smile widening, she tilted her head, gaze latched onto his with a mildly dubious frown. “Rude? Hardly. He was a perfect gentleman.”

  
There was the slightest twitch at the corner of his mouth, but he otherwise remained passive while Elizabeth’s exuberant expression waned as Asriel had still yet to look at her, the poor girl’s hopeless pursuit appearing quite evident.

”I was a little surprised to see you missing from service this morning.” She smoothed out her features into a look of innocence. “I imagine the good Lord will be less forgiving than our sweet Elizabeth, here.”

Asriel’s lips curved as his eyes wandered past her collarbone. “I’m afraid the good Lord’s forgiveness ran out for me some time ago.”

“Elizabeth,” called Edward’s Aunt Bethany from across the street, hand lifted to her eyes to block the sun. “Quit dawdling and come along and help me with lunch.”

As Elizabeth turned to call back to her aunt, her attention was pulled to her feet where the wolf had moved, nose bumping her knuckles, sniffing her hand. The creature seemed more docile now than her previous encounter with it.

She was so surprised at the gesture from the animal that she lifted her gaze back to Asriel’s to find his eyes flickering between them with an odd expression on his face.

“Won’t you join us, Asriel?” Elizabeth begged, staring up at him pleadingly. “Auth Beth made her special apple pie.”

“Of course, Lizzie,” he agreed, finally looking at the girl with a broad grin as he tapped her nose. “Now, run along and save me a seat.”

Elizabeth jumped and clapped her hands before holding one out for her. “Come, Marisa.”

However, the low growl of the wolf brought Elizabeth up short, her flinch visible. Apparently, docile wasn’t quite the right word.

“Actually, Lizzie, I’ll bring Marisa along,” Asriel cut in with a kiss to the girl’s cheek. “I need a woman’s advice on a gift.”

“Well, I could-“

“But Aunt Beth needs you,” he reminded, nodding across the street. “We’ll be along shortly.”

Elizabeth’s long sigh could have blown a balloon to capacity in one go as he turned and looped an arm through hers.

“Have you already burned through every other woman’s advice in town?” she asked, nails biting into his arm as he led her into the Store, determined to have none of his game. “Or are you simply back to further insult me?”

“I have no intention of insulting you,” he assured with a chuckle. “In fact, I find myself in mild admiration of your skills. You must have really been convincing to lure someone as intentional as Eddie into your web. He’s never made a rash decision in his life.”

“Well, now that I have the infamous Asriel Belacqua’s admiration, I can relax and enjoy my stay in the great state of Texas,” she mocked, trailing her fingers over a shelf of supplies. “But as you well know, I did less luring than I thought. Edward wanted me for the basest reason of all.”

Unable to help herself, she darted a glance to find less of a smirk and more of a gentle smile as his eyes danced over her face and down the rest of herself before returning to her eyes.

“It really does match your eyes,” he offered, that magnet returning as she found it impossible to part from his gaze. “The dress.”

There was a flutter in her belly that accompanied his words, one she slapped down as soon as it occurred.

  
“Speaking of base desires,” she sighed. “I imagine Edward’s lack of rashness is made up for by yours.” 

His grin grew again, teeth bared like he might reach out and sink them into her flesh.

“I haven’t been able to sleep because of you,” he said, pointing at a few flowers. “Which ones would you prefer if you were Lizzie?”

Rather than mull over the selection, she stared at his profile considering how easily he’d thrown that statement out there, like he had any right to be thinking of her while in his bed.

“I don’t see how your lewd and inappropriate thoughts could possibly be _my_ fault.” She dislodged his arm from hers and took a step back. “You’re a disgusting-“

“I’m inappropriate?” he returned, feigning shock at her accusation. “I was referring to thoughts of your and Marcel’s schemes keeping me up.” A slow grin built at the corner of his mouth as he forced her to take his arm again with a small wave to the shopkeeper. “You seem to be the one with the inappropriate thoughts, love.”

Teeth grinding, she snapped under her breath, _“Stop_ calling me that.”

“Why?” he quipped, attention on the flowers as he lifted out a few yellow daisies. “Is that what Eddie whispers when he’s rutting away, more intent on his pleasure than yours?”

Nails breaking the skin on his forearm, she tried to keep her voice steady, but felt it quickening with rage.

“ _You’re a pig!_ ”

“Does he smell you, love?” Asriel murmured, ignoring the blood seeping from the pricks on his arm as he lifted the flowers to her nose and leaned close like he was taking a sniff as well. “Does he bow between your thighs to taste you?”

The way he was staring into her eyes, those twin oceans pulling her in and drowning her, left her without the memory of how to breathe.

“That’s the first thing I’m going to do,” he went on, voice steady as he brushed a finger over hers against the flowers. “I’m going to bow for you and drink everything you have to offer.”

The way his lips curved, slightly parted and full of promise, drew her eyes down, thoughts of what they felt like flickering unintentionally through her mind and tugging a dampness between her thighs upon which she cursed the birth. He looked more like a wolf in this moment than a man, and she briefly wondered if he purposefully mimicked the creature to appear more offsetting to people.

When she finally spoke, it was unfortunate how easily her voice cracked. “What makes you think I’ll ever let you do such a thing?”

The corner of his mouth lifted again as he whispered, “Curiosity.”

“Curiosity,” she softly echoed, itching to reach out and run a finger over his lips.

They were so close to one another she could feel each of his breaths, mint covering tobacco, against her flushed cheeks.

“Did you find what you were looking for, Asriel?”

The shopkeeper’s voice was like a slap, reminding her where she was and with whom and more importantly of the fact that he wasn’t her husband.

“Sure did,” Asriel answered, voice firm and even a little pleasant like he hadn’t just been making promises to...

It was a whispered thing, that thing. Something the other girls had giggled about over tea and cookies. It wasn’t anything any of them had actually experienced as far as she knew and certainly nothing any of the men who’d touched her had asked for. The opposite of course has been requested, her bowed for them, but never...

“This is Eddie’s new bride,” Asriel informed as he handed the man the coins. “He had to go all the way to Charleston to find someone who’d have him. Can you believe that, Mr. Hubbard?”

The sliver haired man chuckled as he leaned against the counter, his gray eyes alight with amusement. “I’d heard something to that effect. Sounds more like something you’d do than Edward.”

Asriel joined in the man’s amusement before gathering the flowers and tugging her out of the store where the wolf was waiting, eyes intently watching, and started in the direction of Edwards’ uncle’s home.

“I imagine you’re rather warm and moist at the moment,” he commented as he nodded to a few folks they passed, maintaining the appearance of a gentleman as his mouth demonstrated something altogether different.

“Stop.”

“I meant the heat,” he clarified with a grin. “You really must cease with your inappropriate thoughts, love. You did just come from church. What will the good Lord think?”

Rather than give in to his antics and make a fool of herself the way she was sure he wanted, she kept her gaze forward, waiting for the house to come into sight, ready to be rid of the wolf lapping at her discomfort.

“You’re the one who really must stop. What if someone heard you?”

“I don’t think you really want me to stop,” he countered, bringing her to a halt and spinning her to fully face him.

Glancing about to see if anyone had taken notice of them, she quickly muttered, “You’re mistaken.”

“No, you like it,” he went on, grin spreading. “I challenge you.”

“What makes you think I want challenge?” she snapped, meeting those deep oceans once more.

“You thrive off challenge. You can’t help it.”

“You’re making a great many assumptions about me. I don’t imagine that fool Johnny Henderson went into so many details.”

“Just the highlights,” he assured, gaze sweeping her for the dozenth time. “The ring he never got back, the sex, the baby...” His eyes danced with amusement as they settled on her midsection as though she were hiding the little parasite. “What did you do with it? Toss it in the Atlantic?”

“I lost it,” she snapped, jerking her arm free of him, gaze leaving his to once again search for onlookers as she opened her parasol and tilted it to block the penetrating beams.

If Edward saw him occupying her, there’d be hell to pay she was sure.

“I’m sorry.”

The gentleness of his tone swiftly drew her eyes back to his, surprise that he even had that sort of tone throwing her off.

“What?”

He bowed his head a moment before shrugging and meeting her eyes again, softness permeating the blue depths.

“I know how difficult that can be,” he added with a kick of his boot at a stray rock. “I’m sorry you had to endure it.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to say she hardly cared about the loss of a child she’d never wanted in the first place, but the words wouldn’t form as she became caught up in his eyes again.

The man was so completely beautiful that she wondered how any woman in this town functioned in any capacity when he took an interest in them, especially when he looked at them like this, all deep and understanding. If he were a woman, she’d think he’d experienced the loss of a child himself. 

“It was a long time ago,” she finally said, swallowing down the urge to touch him and chose to round the corner toward the house as an alternative.

“Marisa,” he called, running to catch up with her. “Wait.”

“I’m hungry and I’m done with your childish little game.”

“Marisa.” His fingers swiftly wound around her arm and turned her back toward him, this time in a more considerate fashion, his face apologetic and beseeching. “I apologize for my carelessness.”

“Your carelessness?” She quickly repeated, brow furrowing as she once again measured him. “Every word you’ve said to me since the moment we met has been in an effort to rile me up.”

Eyes wide, he moved to speak. “I-“

”And you seem content to continue to treat me as an object you’ve discovered you can play with when you’re bored.” Taking a step toward him, she placed herself directly in his face, jaw tight. “I assure you, I am no Elizabeth, some pretty thing with which to toy, and even if I were I would most certainly not belong to an insignificant, uncultured degenerate like _you.”_

For all his charm, she did take some measure of pride in the fact that he seemed genuinely taken aback. She nearly felt sorry for his predicament as he shuffled uncomfortably, clearly in desperate search of a response as his mouth parted a handful of times and his eyes flickered over her face like she’d just transformed before him.

It served him right. If he wanted her riled, he’d achieved it. God help him.

“Asriel!”

Elizabeth’s voice was as good a blade as any to sever the moment as the girl squealed from the front porch like she’d been waiting for them the whole time, lurking like a vulture ready to devour its next meal.

Asriel, for his part, chuckled and held the flowers out to Elizabeth with a dramatic bow, the tension slipping from his face as easily as a match being pinched out. “For you, madam.”

Releasing a heavy sigh, she shook his presence free of her thoughts and ascended the porch steps.

“There you are, darling,” Edward called as they stepped into the dining area, his gaze stabbing Asriel while he rose to pull out her seat. “Elizabeth told me Asriel stole you away.”

“Hardly,” Asriel protested as he took a seat across from her at the table beside Elizabeth. “You’d know if I tried that.”

Edward’s stiffness brought an explanation falling from her lips. “He wanted help choosing flowers for Elizabeth. I hope you like them.” She kept her gaze focused on the girl rather than the two men. “I’m afraid I wasn’t sure what you’d like as we haven’t had the time to properly get to know one another.”

Elizabeth practically glowed with pride. “Oh, they’re just the most beautiful things.”

Content that was settled, she fixed her dress around her legs and did her best to appear as casual as possible while avoiding looking directly across the table where she could still feel his gaze burning her skin.

“I enjoyed the sermon, this morning,” she said, laying a hand to Edward’s arm, thumb stroking the skin beneath his cuff. “It was... inspired.”

Edward’s Uncle Davis took that prompt to head off on a long tangent about the way the preacher had misquoted a scripture. The rest of the table seemed to groan in unison and it became apparent fairly quickly that she’d stepped into a pile with the topic.

It was Asriel who finally interrupted the man’s rant. “Uncle Davis, since you’re so on fire for the Lord at the moment, perhaps you could bless the food and we can enjoy these beautiful ladies’ kindly prepared meal?”

The portly man stuttered and nodded a bit before they started taking hands and it was then that she realized she’d be forced to take Asriel’s hand with no head at their end of the table.

Tongue caught between her teeth, she attempted to not bite it in half as he held out his hand with a passive look, his eyes on the food, hiding his thoughts like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“Let us pray.”

To have both men’s hands caught between hers made her feel like she was already burning in hell.

Edward’s hands, ones she’d previously thought calloused, were much smoother when contrasted with Asriel’s rough ones. It was clear which of them endured hard labor more often. Normally, she preferred the smoothness, but in this case she found her thoughts turning darker, dwelling upon what the texture of Asriel’s marred flesh would feel like against hers.

When all was said and done, she was relieved Asriel had not attempted to further her discomfort and she was allowed to slide her hand from his without incident.

“So, Marisa,” Aunt Beth began as they passed dishes around the table. “Are you familiar with the cattle business?”

“Oh,” she laughed, feigning a bit of modesty. “Not at all. I’m afraid the majority of my knowledge is quite wasted on a ranch.”

“I doubt that,” Asriel disputed, casting her a smile. “I think she’ll be an excellent diplomat to have around. Lord knows Edward and I need someone to calm the waters.”

Elizabeth chimed in with a giggle, “They fight over everything like a couple of little boys with toy guns.”

Beth added, “Remember when they were about seven and the preacher had to sit them down and give them that lecture on envy? They’d been brawling in the street over a yo-yo.”

Edward groaned, setting his fork down and tugging at the collar of his shirt. “We needn’t tell stories-“

“Because he doesn’t want it mentioned that he always loses,” Asriel tossed in, elbows propped on the table as he tore a piece of bread with a smirk. “Remember that fit he threw when Uncle Thomas gifted me that colt?”

“You didn’t deserve that colt,” Edward said, voice calm.

It was an odd calm, enough to have her reaching for a glass of water to wet her throat.

Since his revelation that he knew about her manipulation the week prior, things had settled into a rather mellow routine between them.

He’d spend his days mulling over contracts and bills or out on business. She’d stay in the house attempting not to go bored out of her mind, fiddling with this and that. She’d even helped Susan cook a meal one evening because she’d literally not been able to think of anything else to do. Plus, she’d decided it was better to have the woman think well of her than not should she ever see the need to stab Edward in the neck. It wasn’t something she felt she’d have to do, but she always liked to be prepared.

At night, they’d have supper and make small talk, his hidden personality not appearing again since that first time. To be fair, he’d been exceedingly kind to her, even doting. Then, usually after she’d already settled for the night, he’d crawl on top of her, spill his seed, and roll over to sleep after having jammed a hand between her thighs to help her slide over the edge. It was the same. Every night. 

She imagined after a time, she’d be able to close her eyes and map his next move long before he even knew what it was.

“Won it fair and square,” Asriel carried on, tilting his head to Elizabeth as he tossed the bread into his mouth like the uncultured degenerate she’d named him earlier. “Didn’t I, Lizzie?”

“Oh, Asriel,” Elizabeth smiled as she affectionately patted his arm. “You know better than trying to get me to side against my brother.”

“You cheated,” Edward reminded, knife and fork hovering over his plate as he stared at Asriel. “And my father always felt badly for you.”

“You’re saying I won because of pity?” Asriel’s smirk hadn’t lessened in the least. “Eddie, Eddie, you really are a sore loser.”

“Boys,” Beth scolded, tone leaving no room for their bickering as her blue eyes swiveled between them. “You’re setting a poor example for the newest member of our family.”

While they stopped, she could tell Edward was still tense, the grip on his knife drawing her gaze. Then, like a switch, he released a breath and a pleasant expression returned to his face.

“Do you have any siblings, Marisa?” Elizabeth asked, her eyes drifting to her again.

“A brother,” she answered, swiping at a husk of corn sticking between her teeth with her tongue. “To be fair, we never got along either.”

“Older or younger?” Elizabeth prodded.

“Twin.”

“A twin?” Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she leaned closer. “I find twins so fascinating. Are you like the twins who sense when the other is hurt? Or dying?”

“Not really,” she laughed, brushing some hair over her ear. “We’re really not close. He was mother’s favorite and I was-“

“Your father’s?” Elizabeth interjected.

Suddenly wishing the conversation would shift, she gave a shake of her head and looked to Beth with a bright smile. “This meal is wonderful.”

“Oh, thank you, dear,” Beth said, patting the corner of her mouth with a cloth. “We’ll have to let you prepare us a meal one day.”

She moved to respond when Asriel sat forward with a chuckle. “Yes, if you’re any good I might have to steal you away for real. Once I get a taste of something I like, I simply can’t let it go.”

The mischievous glint in his eyes brought an unintended flash of dark hair shifting between her thighs and she found herself lost to a bout of coughing and had to reach for some water.

“Marisa, darling,” Edward worried, hand rubbing her back as she sipped from the glass. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, sorry,” she murmured, hand to her chest as she laughed. “I think the seasoning...”

She left the rest to their imaginations as she recovered and they returned to another conversation.

When she finally managed to lift her gaze to Asriel, she found his eyes elsewhere, but a grin still tugging the corner of his mouth. Then, like he sensed she was looking, all that blue shifted to her and she found herself fisting her skirts in an attempt to control her face.

It was obvious in his gaze that he knew exactly where her mind had went and she hated him all the more for it, for... planting it there.

“Your mother always loved my apple pie, Asriel.”

The mention drew his gaze from her and she allowed herself a moments admonishment for letting those base desires creep up again. If she wasn’t more careful, she was going to wind up burning here before she ever even made it to Hell.

“She did,” he answered softly, in that same tone she hadn’t thought him capable. “It was her favorite.”

From his use of past tense and tone, she gathered his mother was no longer living and she found herself abnormally curious to know more of his past and how he’d come to be a member of Edward’s family. It was clear as day he wasn’t like the rest of them in how he held himself... or _didn’t_ hold himself as far as manners went on top of standing out with his dark hair amongst all the fairness around them.

“Have you always been friends?” she found herself asking.

Edward cleared his throat and sipped his lemonade while Asriel only shrugged. It was left to Aunt Beth to explain.

“Asriel’s mother, Madeline, and Edward’s father, Thomas, were best friends when they were younger. Their mothers were very close.”

Elizabeth chimed in, “When Asriel’s mother passed, our father took him in and he’s been with us ever since.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask about Asriel’s own father, but one look at his deflated shoulders halted the inquiry. At present, he was picking at his plate as though searching for something and she had the sudden, irrational urge to reach out and touch him.

“Well, your father sounds like he was a good man,” she commented, stroking Edward’s hand again, hoping to diffuse the ever present tension.

She had the sinking feeling she’d be doing that a lot in the days, weeks, and even years to come should she last that long.

“Oh, Thomas was a very good man; a hard worker, always working with his hands. He wanted to build something his children could be proud of and he did.” Beth smiled, lost in memory. “And he simply adored Madeline. They were inseparable when they were growing up. I even delivered Asriel when he was born and Thomas insisted he be allowed in to comfort her. There was no stopping him when he set his mind to it.”

Things began to make a great deal more sense. The rivalry between Edward and Asriel stemmed from sharing a home and, as it appeared, a father. She was acutely aware of what a sibling rivalry could do, especially when one child was favored over another.

“Excuse me,” Asriel abruptly said, wiping his mouth and pushing back in his chair before leaving the room.

With his departure, another uncomfortable silence settled, broken by Elizabeth when she stated, “Well, I was the favorite.”

A resignated sigh left Edward before a smile appeared on his lips, visibly relaxing in Asriel’s absence. “That you were and still are.”

* * *

“I apologize if I caused a problem at the table,” she offered to Beth, helping her set the dishes in the kitchen as Elizabeth went with Edward back into town. “I didn’t know-“

“Oh, don’t fret over it.” Beth gave a light laugh and brushed her fair hair from her eyes with the back of her hand. “Those boys love each other, but they’re just so...”

“Competitive?” she offered with a grin.

“That would be putting it mildly,” Beth sighed, scraping the leftovers into a bucket. “Thomas tried with both boys, to pay them equal attention, but Edward was always so distant, wanting to educate himself and be involved in the workings around town while Asriel...” Beth stood straight and set the dirty dishes to the side. “He was so starved for affection after his mother passed and he had a love for the animals and such a tender touch.” She smiled. “Thomas poured into him, teaching him everything about ranch life and Asriel just... lapped it up.”

“And Edward?” she asked, feeling she already knew the answer, the jealousy practically tangible.

“Thomas did his best to meet Edward where he was,” Beth promised, shuffling more plates around. “He taught him how to run the business end of things, but they were just so different. I’m afraid it built a rivalry in the boys that Thomas never intended and when he died and left part of the ranch to Asriel...”

“Hmm.” She could see the problem quite clearly now. “Asriel doesn’t strike me as someone who’s tender.”

“Oh, don’t let him fool you,” Beth chuckled. “He’s a sweet boy with the biggest heart you’ll ever find. He’s just... been hurt so much. It’s difficult for him to show vulnerability, so he hides it under rude humor.”

“How old was he?” she asked, understanding each of the men a bit better. “When his mother passed?”

“Eight.” Beth turned to her with a soft smile. “It devastated Asriel. They were so close and the loss of her... I don’t think it’s something he’s ever recovered from. I just pray he’ll one day settle and find someone who’ll make him happy.”

Such facets intrigued her. The pieces of both men seemed to click and she found that she wanted to know more about each.

  
As though coming to herself, Beth added, “You’re very lucky, Marisa. Edward will make sure you’ll never want for anything.”

There was something about the way Beth said it that made her feel as though she was trying to force the idea. Perhaps, Edward didn’t uphold his facade as well as she’d thought.

“Now, dear, will you take this out back and fetch me some water for these dishes?”

While she didn’t look forward to fighting with another well, she did as asked, taking the barrel out the back door and pausing to spy the well. A small barn sat directly behind the house and beyond that miles of undisturbed view.

“It’s over there.”

Startled, she jumped and spun to find Asriel hunched over on a bench, elbows propped on his knees with a cigarette tucked between his fingers as he ran a hand over the wolf’s head.

“You startled me,” she murmured, shifting the bucket to her left hand as she brushed her hair over her shoulder. “You seem to be making a habit of it.”

The corner of his mouth tugged up, but he otherwise didn’t move, his gaze trained on a hole in the plank between his boots.

“You left everyone wondering where you ran off to,” she went on, uncertainty now plaguing her under the weight of the new knowledge. “The rudeness continues apparently.”

“Did you miss me that much, love?” he chuckled, tapping the cigarette.

“I didn’t know you and Edward shared the ranch,” she countered. When his eyes lifted to hers, she went on, “Is that why you’re trying to get under Edward’s skin by flirting with me? Your little rivalry?”

His head lulled to the side as he chuckled again and lifted the cigarette to his mouth. “You think I’m trying to compete with him?”

“Aren’t you?” she asked, measuring him in the new light she’d been provided. “I’m sure there are any number of women you could be chasing in my place.”

“Sure,” he replied with a sigh, allowing the smoke to filter out of his mouth as the wolf rose and eased up beside her. “There’s nothing remotely beautiful or interesting about you independent of him.”

As the wolf’s snout nuzzled at her hand, she tentatively stroked its head, running her fingers through the silver fur between its ears. She hadn’t expected the coarse looking fur to be so soft.

“She doesn’t normally do that,” he commented, hopping to his feet and reaching out to snatch the bucket from her while handing her the cigarette. “Here, I don’t need you jamming this one, too.”

With that, he jumped down from the porch and headed for the well. The wolf watched him, but didn’t move to follow and she found herself wondering how he even came to have her. While she wasn’t accustomed to all the workings in Texas, she was fairly certain having a wolf for a pet wasn’t the norm.

When he returned, he answered the question as though he’d read her mind. “We get a lot of storms out here. She got washed out from her pack and I found her in some brush. She was about eight weeks old, then.”

“She’s beautiful,” she whispered as he set the bucket inside the kitchen door and turned back to her, gaze flickering between the wolf and her as he reached out and took the cigarette back, his fingers lingering along hers as they slid away.

“And you’re impossible,” she murmured with a roll of her eyes even as her breath caught at the touch of him, like being burned by a match you held too long. “You’re trying to ruin me because you think I’m some whore who’s plotting with her brother.”

“How about we stop making assumptions about one another?” He shrugged his shoulders and lifted the cigarette to his lips. “I’ll admit after meeting you, I’ve never been more jealous of him in all my life, but it’s not rivalry that drives me. I’ve never been the one with that problem. I just like to ruffle his feathers because of how much it bothers him. In case you haven’t noticed, the man’s got a permanent stick shoved up his ass.”

“And what drives you if not rivalry?” She tilted her head with a laugh. “Besides childishness, of course.”

“I like to possess things.” He grinned and took a slow step toward her, more like a sideways glide than anything else, like he was dancing with her. “Though, admittedly, I’d like to be possessed by you as much as I’d like to possess you.”

“And while we’re possessing each other, Edward... what? Gives us his blessing?”

“Have you seen it, yet?” he asked, eyes dancing over her, studying her. “The real him?”

Suddenly going very still, she blinked at him. “I don’t know-“

“You have.” He drew back slightly. “Word of advice: Always be on his side and don’t correct him... ever. It wouldn’t bode well for you.”

Once again, words escaped her.

“But you and I... there’s a pull between us,” he whispered, eyes flickering over her face, the blue transfixed. “Like gravity, once you start falling there’s no stopping it.”

“Gravity,” she echoed, swallowing against the thick feeling in her throat. “That’s your excuse?”

A gentle breeze caressed them, drawing a few strands of hair across her face, which he was quick to catch on a finger, tugging it over her ear, the pad of his digit brushing her skin.

“Do you know wolves are one of the few animals that mate for life?” he asked, voice low and hypnotic as his fingers continued to brush her hair, combing out the long strands. “Once a male finds his equal, he remains loyal to her so long as she lives. You might say more loyal than a human man.”

The way he said it had her chest heaving again, like he was reading some poem written on her soul, reaching right through her and snatching it like it belonged more to him than her.

She could feel it, that pull, that inexplainable magnetism that had her leaning closer into him as all rational thought evaporated.

“Though, it isn’t really his decision,” he went on, adjusting his stance to within a breath of her. “She eliminates all other possibilities, the weak and demure cast off until she’s right in his sights, the only choice he can make, and then they become...” The final word was preceded with the barest brush of his lips over hers. “Inseparable.”

Her fingers somehow managed to become fisted in his shirt just above his belt as he continued to hover just out of reach, every staggered breath released between them captured by the other and so strong she could taste the cigarette on the air.

“He loses himself at the first scent of her,” he murmured, fingers lost in her hair as her back found the wall between the porch and the kitchen. “Becomes addicted to her.”

Blood gushing loudly, she could have sworn her heart had climbed into her ears as he pressed into her, his body flush with hers as those twin oceans drowned her again.

“Say something, love,” he pleaded, thumbs stroking her neck as his scent, earth and the faintest traces of cologne, mixed with the cigarette to trap her in his web. “Say anything.”

Words. They existed, she was sure... somewhere. Possibly.

But not in her mouth, nor her head. Not anywhere she could grasp.

All she really managed was some sort of strangled whining sound she refused to call a moan.

“If you let me taste you,” he whispered, too impossibly close to not be already kissing her. “I’ll worship you. I’ll devote myself to your pleasure and yours alone.”

“Why?” she finally managed, voice choked. “Because I’m beautiful? You’re not the first man to notice.”

“Does it matter?”

A shake of her head was all it took for him to finish her off right there and then, his lips firmly claiming hers as he clutched her neck like he was trying to hold her still and delve as quickly and deeply into her as he could manage.

Tongues and teeth clashed as his hands took on a life of their own, touching her neck, her breasts, clutching her waist as he pulled their hips as flush as he could manage through her layers of skirts.

For her part, she wasn’t sure what she was doing besides succumbing to the taste and smell of him, fingers threaded through the unruly locks at the back of his neck, pulling him as close into their kiss as she could and allowing him to steal noises from the back of her throat, the likes of which she should have been embarrassed to give life.

Every brush of his lips felt like the sun reaching out to scorch her flesh, the burning heat radiating from him making the air around them practically crackle.

And she realized with another moan escaping at his hungry touch that she’d never welcomed the Texas heat so much as she did now, wrapped up in his embrace as he suffocated her under his presence. She felt she could burn happily so long as he never stopped touching her.

  
Overcome with the need for more access to his skin, she jerked his shirt free of his pants and allowed her fingers to jam under the hem to find the hard flesh there, nails scraping sharply over his abdomen, drawing a deep, guttural sound from his throat as his mouth left hers, falling to her neck while his hands began pulling at her skirts. The moment his hand touched her knee, she knew she was done for, would permit him anything.

Then, the inevitable happened and a pan clanged in the kitchen, reminding her of where she was and how close she was to foolishly letting him take everything right then and there.

Hands planting firmly to his chest, she pushed him back, holding him there as she scrambled to catch the air he’d stolen from her lungs, not that it was doing him any good as he labored for breath in a worse way than she.

“You’re going to ruin me,” she murmured, digging her nails into the bare flesh of his chest as he moved to claim her again, his eyes wild with desire. “And it won’t be gravity’s fault.”

The clench of his jaw as he pushed forward into her nails, forcing them to become trapped between their bodies and tangled in his bunched up shirt, stole whatever breath she’d regained and placed her back under his firm hold.

“I imagine you’ll tell Edward, now,” she concluded, nails biting at his exposed chest as best they could in their confined space. “Prove to him your misgivings about me were correct.”

He bowed his brow to hers, his heavy breaths washing her face as he admitted, “Perhaps, I believe you’re just an innocent bystander after all. Perhaps, it was escape that brought you to us.”

“It was,” she sighed, head resting against the wall as she sucked in a long, deep breath and allowed it to slowly ease back out.

“Then, I regret all the more letting him go to Charleston in my stead.” His fingers traced her lips again. “It could have been us.”

A laugh finally slipped from her as she relaxed and allowed him to support the rest of her weight against the wall. “You wouldn’t have married me.”

“There you go with those assumptions again,” he chuckled. “I suppose that’s why it’s easier with wolves. He never has to guess at what the female is thinking or what her motivations might be. A wolf is just a wolf.”

“Women are just women.”

An amused grin appeared as he stooped and picked up the cigarette he’d dropped, causing a flutter of disdain in her belly at his absence. “No woman is the same as the next.”

“Neither are men.”

“True, but their motivation tends to be revealed fairly quickly,” he replied before adding. “We’re not as good at the long game.”

“And what is your motivation?”

His eyes danced over her face, lingering on her lips in a more hungry way than the wolf at their feet ever could. “I want to be whole.”

Taken aback at that answer, she frowned, “Whole?”

“Yes,” he murmured, fingers reaching out and brushing her neck, their rough texture stoking the heat simmering between her thighs. “Haven’t you ever felt something was missing, some part of you that you desperately needed?”

“Are you going to be cliche and say I’m the part you’re missing?” she mocked, plucking the cigarette from his fingers. “Because we’ve had a grand total of four conversations, none of which have told you anything about me that would cause you to think I was that other part.”

That grin of his spread across his face as his eyes followed the cigarette to her mouth and lingered there. “Perhaps, cliche things are cliche because they’ve worked so many times.”

“Ah.” She tilted her head as she returned his playfulness, allowing the smoke to ease out against his face. “You _are_ trying to ruin me, but, regardless of what you may think, I’m not a whore.”

“Of course not,” he murmured, eyes back on hers, allowing the earnestness there to ring as true. “Regardless of what _you_ may think, I’ve never been interested in whores.”

To say she was desperate to dig deeper would have been underestimating her curiosity. “Then, what are you interested in?”

“This dirty mouth, of course.” He smirked and ran the rough pad of his thumb along her smooth lips. “The quick wit that drips of equal amounts intelligence and boredom.” His fingers trailed up and over her brow. “Those beautiful, piercing eyes that torture me every time I look into them.”

Next, he dropped his hands to hers. “Your quickness to anger that’s well hidden in the nail prints along your palm.” He turned her hand over to reveal the imprints, both old and fresh, brushing his thumbs over them before lifting it to his lips. “Passion Eddie will never meet and a longing for control, a purpose.”

“Hmm,” she murmured, breathing shallow as he continued to kiss each mark.

“I know more about you after four conversations than he’ll know four years from now.” His mouth ventured up her palm to her wrist, resting right over her pulse. “And your heart already races for me in a way it never will for him.”

“God,” she murmured, fisting his shirt again as his tongue dipped out to lick her skin prompting that pool of desire collected between her thighs to pulse all on its own. “You’re worse than a dog after a bitch.”

“Just a wolf after his mate,” he whispered, finger inching beneath the white lace material along her sleeve as he leaned forward to nip at her jaw. “Let me taste you, love.”

Every nerve in her body screamed at her to let him, to beg him to touch her if she had to, whatever it took to find relief for the ache that was solely of his making.

“Asriel,” she managed, her hold on him tightening as he let her wrist go and brushed his lips over hers, teasingly pulling away after a light touch.

“Your scents already taken me,” he murmured, hands at her sides, thumbs brushing the undersides of her breasts. “There’s no use denying your need. I can smell it on you.”

“I-“

“Marisa?”

“Fuck,” she whispered, quickly shoving him away and fumbling a hand down her dress as Beth stepped out the back door.

The silence that followed was deafening as she feared the woman could hear her racing heart and what a pair they made, him shirt untucked and wrinkled, his neck laced with red lines from her nails, and hair seeming as though he’d met a windstorm. She was sure she looked little better.

“Aunt Beth,” Asriel said as he cleared his throat, drawing her eyes up to find him looking every bit the part of a boy with his hand in the cookie jar as he crossed and uncrossed his arms.

It was then that she realized she was still holding the cigarette and thrust her hand out to him. “Thank you, but I don’t smoke.” She smiled as innocently as she could manage with her pulse still drumming in her ears, throwing all her senses off. “It’s very unladylike.”

That wolffish smirk returned as he took a step toward her and relieved her of the thing. 

  
“Forgive my assumption.”

She then turned to Beth, who was staring at them with a knowing measure of disapproval lopped on top. “Sorry it took me so long. He was regaling me with the story of how he found his wolf.”

“Well, if you’re done... sharing,” Beth said rather tersely, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “You can help me finish cleaning up before your _husband_ returns.”

“Of course,” she answered, smile unwavering as the woman grunted and returned inside.

“Quick wit, indeed, love.”

Sparing him a sly look, she swiftly grabbed him by the hand and took another drag off the cigarette caught between his fingers before she placed a hand to his chest for balance and leaned close to his ear. “If it helps ease your mind, I’ll think of you when I fuck him, tonight.”

With a quick tug of her teeth at his lobe, she began backing away, laughter bubbling in her throat as he growled and took a very intentional step toward her.

”Marisa-“

“Enjoy the rest of your day, my wolf,” she teased as she slipped back into the house.

Maybe everything in Texas wasn’t so bad after all. If the heat of Asriel Belacqua’s pursuit was her consolation, she’d welcome the burn.


End file.
